Ars Readers tell us whether the OS is all hype or worth your time.

Windows 8 has arrived, and with it, we released a comprehensive set of stories covering all angles of its elements in our Deep Dive. Peter Bright found that the OS compromises quite a bit, and Andrew Cunningham clocked it for performance. Here in the OpenFourm, Ars Readers are also tackling Windows 8 in the thread, "Windows 8 Discussion (And it’s here!)". This thread contains more than 2,000 posts, and you’ll find it’s a comprehensive read that dates back to mid-September of 2011, when users were still speculating about Windows 8.

The change in UI is an issue that is central to the discussion of Windows 8. Users like XX55XX find that despite flaws, it works for them: "As for the "new interface", Microsoft needs to make it easier to close applications for us mice and keyboard users (come on, wouldn't an "x" in the corner hurt so much?). Furthermore, the OS has so much left to right scrolling that it is sometimes disorienting to look at after a while—you just don't know where you are. An easy way to rectify this would be to encourage developers to include tabs at the top that lead to different menus or pages. On the Start screen, it would also help to create "buffers" between groups of tiles so that it's like you are moving from page to page… I like the new interface, it just needs some further refinement so that it works well on both touch screens and with a mouse and keyboard."

Even earlier in the month, as the release date grew closer, DarkReality’s hopes were not set high, "Windows 8 doesn't seem, to me at least, to be intended to appeal to any group whose members are traditionally older than third graders. I mean, Metro/Modern looks like something that would be great in a classroom, in the 1980s, when computer literacy was not a given. I can't imagine a lot of professionals, artists, gamers, or computer hobbyists are eagerly anticipating the 26th of October."

Mark Havelcalls Windows 8 "Windows 7 with a touch-friendly interface," while Wundan Masterreplies "and Windows 7 is Vista with a better display model." However, other users in the thread have found the user experience more original.

How is the Windows Store Experience? Bob Servoweighs in. "As far as the Windows Store goes, there's quite a bunch of pretty decent apps, and they're already available for free. I hope this is a side effect of the pre-GA period, where everyone tries to get a bunch of reviews. Because otherwise, people would be undercutting themselves already before Windows 8 is officially on the market. What's really mean for instance is that Microsoft themselves have a pretty nice painting app on the store, and it's free. That's pretty much a bummer for anyone writing their own, because the bar's already high. Also, you appear to be able to make more than one app name reservation. From what I remember, only one reservation was advertised running up to opening the store for everyone, I already have two. Not sure what the limit is, but I wouldn't be surprised if some people start holding cool names at ransom. Luckily, I managed to pick a nice one for one of my apps, which was surprisingly not reserved, considering it's simplicity and meaning (at least I'd figure calling an image effects application "pixels" would be nice)."

As you read through the thread, you’ll find very useful technical questions answered as users share their experiences installing on various setups. You can also find out what subtle changes in keystrokes have changed in the new UI. If your issue is not addressed in the thread, you can also post a question to get help from other users.

And what about the controversy over the missing start menu from Windows 8? Fuzzmz takes precautions: "Went ahead an finally moved my main machine over to Windows 8 Professional. The only thing I dislike so far is the solid title title bars (no transparency) but I know I'll get used to it. I also went and bought Start8 just in case I find I miss the old start menu too much."

Contextfree adds, "The Start screen is intended to be the main switcher as well as launcher, same as on iOS. alt-tab, the switcher on the left side, etc. are more like shortcuts for advanced users, not the primary way of switching apps. Using the start screen is actually more efficient most of the time because things are in more predictable places—the same principle behind the Windows 7 taskbar or the Mac OS dock—whereas with the left-edge switcher or alt-tab you'll have to scan the list to see if/where the one you want is there."

Genome, who presumably is going to upgrade, says, "Right, see you on the other side, folks."

Have you downloaded Windows 8 and installed it on your hardware? Would you recommend it for other users? Tell us how things are turning out. Join in the conversation with us in the Ars OpenForum. Register for an account to participate in the discussion.

Promoted Comments

I did the download update yesterday. I burned a dvd and did a clean install. It was fast and simple. I got a bluescreen error while installing the newest nvidia driver the first time. But everything else went fine and no errors or problems since then.

The desktop is essentially unchanged from 7. All of my applications work. All my devices have drivers. Most of the devices use the most recent driver which is the same driver they used in 7. The machine boots and reboots a lot faster.

I like the changes to the file manager, the file move dialog and the task manager. The flatter UI on the desktop is nice. Having a taskbar on each monitor is very nice although i'd like to be able to pin applications to them independently of each other. Network file transfers seem faster than 7. USB 3 transfers seem faster. Creative Suite 6 installs and works as you'd expect. My colormunki works fine.

Metro is more or less useless on the desktop as it exists now, imo. If metro apps could interface with desktop apps I would use messenger, mail and calendar right now. I like the start screen. I pinned a bunch of tools that I use regularly but infrequently to it. So I can access things in one key press that used to take a bunch of digging through menu's. I'd love a twitter and facebook metro app but their use would be limited for me since they wouldn't be able to interface with the desktop. The metro ui is totally fine on its own to use. I would use it happily in conjunction with the desktop if I could.

In the first few hours I found myself in the metro UI a lot because I was trying it out. I quickly came to the conclusion that it's useless on the desktop and since then I only see it when I first boot the machine and for the start screen. Once I got all my applications installed and the things I need pinned to the task bar I haven't seen metro hardly at all.

The changes to the desktop are very nice. Vista to 7 was a very dramatic upgrade. But 7 to 8 is a pretty minor upgrade. It's polish. Little things like when you delete something windows no longer asks you if you're sure you want to. I miss gadgets.

Microsoft needs to make a reference sheet with keyboard shortcuts and explanations for what you can do with metro apps. The "tutorial" video is so amateurishly bad it's completely useless.

In summary: Metro is half baked. The desktop is good. Without the artificial break between Metro and Desktop the OS would be better. Lots of little improvements to the desktop UI and systems add up to a nicer experience than 7. 40 bucks for Pro is stupid cheap. It takes just a few hours of use to get used to the differences.

I've been using it since the dev preview, and have had the RTM for a month so far. Instead of fighting the changes (After all, what's the point of installing a new OS, then spending time reverting all the changes back to what they were before), I embraced them, and it is mostly good.

Using the start screen is functionally identical to the start menu. It is kinda sloppy at first, when you install a desktop app, because all associated icons get dumped towards the end, but I've found myself actually arranging icons on the start screen to my liking, rather than a big alphabetical list like the previous start menu. I've found I actually prefer it this way. Plus, I like the live tiles on a few apps. As a Windows Phone user, I was excited about this. I also want to add that for the rare Metro app I use, I don't care that they stay open; they stop doing stuff when in the background, I've got plenty of RAM (and swap space) so them staying open really has no negative effects.

I'm rarely spend time in Metro, and it's mostly easy to avoid. It only intrudes a couple times, primarily in Windows Update and a couple of other settings. Most settings are still accessible via the old Control Panel, so that's cool.

The only thing that really bothers is I can't alt-tab from the occasional Metro app I use to the Desktop. I would probably use Metro apps more if I could switch via alt-tab, rather than use the awkward switcher found in the top left hot corner.

But, the general improvements are worth it. I'm glad I made the switch.

Also, I'm glad I'm still young enough to switch things up this dramatically without problems

So far I think I'm in the small group of the installation failing to upgrade. Win8 Pro keeps hanging on the upgrade process near the tail end. I've even gone so far as to run the computer in diagnostic mode (only Microsoft services running), but still no relief. There is already a fairly long topic on this problem in the Microsoft support forums for installation.

And before anyone suggests it, I am NOT doing a clean install. I have no intentions of re-downloading all of World of Warcraft (~30 gigs) or Battlefield 3 (~10 gigs).

Now the only things I haven't done yet, which have been suggested (haven't had enough time to myself this past weekend), is uninstalling the antivirus (I have AVAST) and other programs that were listed as being incompatible with Windows 8. I am a little leery of doing this because of the work involved downloading all those programs again, but at least they will not be anything major. I just need to write them down in a text document as I uninstall them.

I find it hard to believe that most posters here haven't run into these upgrade problems. Most of the posters in the support forums have been ones with custom computers running the latest hardware, i.e. IVB and Z77 chipsets.

EDIT: Make sure you uninstall all virus scans and malware scans like Malwarebytes before attempting the upgrade. There is currently something about the virus and malware scans interfering with the user profile upgrade that is stopping it midway through.

Cesar Torres
Cesar is the Social Editor at Ars Technica. His areas of expertise are in online communities, human-computer interaction, usability, and e-reader technology. Cesar lives in New York City. Emailcesar.torres@arstechnica.com//Twitter@Urraca

95 Reader Comments

Personally, I couldn't care less. It's just an OS. It doesn't offer me anything other OSes cannot do. So at the end of the day it's a question of personal preference. Can't see what the big fuss is all about.

then there's file history. which is why I am recommending friends & family to upgrade, so they don't have to worry about backups.

I seriously hope you are not the only guy they listen to. If you are then please stop giving advice about things you don't know anything about.

Redundancy and file history is NOT backup!!!

I'm not sure you know what File History is. File History* is Microsoft's version of Time Machine (albeit a bit less featured in the RC of Win8). I think you are thinking of Shadow Copies, which is not a backup solution.

Considering that most non-tech people I know have no backup solution--or one they don't run very often--the automatic once-per-hour backup File History provides is a step up.

I find it good. Installed easy. Had a few issues with iTunes and my file server but got thoses worked out. Now Logitech needs to do some work and then my m. Revolution will work. I like the metro interface. And the switch to desktop is so easy will upgrade the wife's laptop to it in a bit

Installed it yesterday on a 2012 MacBook Pro (Bootcamp style) after running the preview for a few months.

Sorry, but as a power user the Metro interface has always driven me batty, so immediately after firing up Win8 for the first time, I installed Stardock's Start8 app, which disables the bottom-left hot corner and puts in a legacy Start Menu, which you can configure to behave like the Start Buttons of old. Well worth the $5 cost of the app.

However, another very annoying issue I'm having right now, is that there are already Windows Updates. But that's not the annoying part. Every time I try and install the 4 updates, it restarts, and the updating percentage gets to 100% then it suddenly says "Failed, reverting changes." Then it has to do its thing and restart twice in order to get back to the way it was. I tried "repairing Windows update" and downloading the updates again, but it still fails and have to go through the whole reverting process over again. This is a clean install so I know there can't possibly be any other software conflicts. I've looked up the "800F0922" error code but that error dates back before the official release of Win8 and there aren't any solutions for my situation. *sigh*

Other than that, it really is speedy. This will be a dev environment running Visual Studio 2012 so I'm looking forward to using it, if I can get past these hiccups first.

then there's file history. which is why I am recommending friends & family to upgrade, so they don't have to worry about backups.

I seriously hope you are not the only guy they listen to. If you are then please stop giving advice about things you don't know anything about.

Redundancy and file history is NOT backup!!!

I'm not sure you know what File History is. File History* is Microsoft's version of Time Machine (unless MS changed the name from RC to RTM). I think you are thinking of Shadow Copies, which is not a backup solution.

Considering that most non-tech people I know have no backup solution--or one they don't run very often--the automatic once-per-hour backup File History provides is a step up.

That still demands that the user provides either a network target or a different attached disk. Hardly a large improvement considering that with the same amount of effort as getting an external drive and having it connected at all times you can get something like carbonite or spideroak to do proper backup for you.

It's ok, even slightly better than Windows 7 once you get used to it. I don't think there is enough improved to warrant upgrading if you already have Windows 7. On the other hand, I wouldn't downgrade a Win 8 machine either, and on a machine new enough for the 14 dollar upgrade I'd consider it (not so much due to the cheap price but because it's likely to be relatively hassle free on a new machine). If you are running XP on overspecced hardware, the 39.99 upgrade is a good deal.

Metro apps, I do not much like and have no intention of using. In my opinion Metro has made the product weaker overall on the desktop, of course it's fairly obvious that it's a sacrifice made to advance MS' agenda on the tablet and phone front, with the potential bonus of skimming money from third parties using the store.

I intend to use it desktop only, just as I would any previous version of Windows.

I did the download update yesterday. I burned a dvd and did a clean install. It was fast and simple. I got a bluescreen error while installing the newest nvidia driver the first time. But everything else went fine and no errors or problems since then.

The desktop is essentially unchanged from 7. All of my applications work. All my devices have drivers. Most of the devices use the most recent driver which is the same driver they used in 7. The machine boots and reboots a lot faster.

I like the changes to the file manager, the file move dialog and the task manager. The flatter UI on the desktop is nice. Having a taskbar on each monitor is very nice although i'd like to be able to pin applications to them independently of each other. Network file transfers seem faster than 7. USB 3 transfers seem faster. Creative Suite 6 installs and works as you'd expect. My colormunki works fine.

Metro is more or less useless on the desktop as it exists now, imo. If metro apps could interface with desktop apps I would use messenger, mail and calendar right now. I like the start screen. I pinned a bunch of tools that I use regularly but infrequently to it. So I can access things in one key press that used to take a bunch of digging through menu's. I'd love a twitter and facebook metro app but their use would be limited for me since they wouldn't be able to interface with the desktop. The metro ui is totally fine on its own to use. I would use it happily in conjunction with the desktop if I could.

In the first few hours I found myself in the metro UI a lot because I was trying it out. I quickly came to the conclusion that it's useless on the desktop and since then I only see it when I first boot the machine and for the start screen. Once I got all my applications installed and the things I need pinned to the task bar I haven't seen metro hardly at all.

The changes to the desktop are very nice. Vista to 7 was a very dramatic upgrade. But 7 to 8 is a pretty minor upgrade. It's polish. Little things like when you delete something windows no longer asks you if you're sure you want to. I miss gadgets.

Microsoft needs to make a reference sheet with keyboard shortcuts and explanations for what you can do with metro apps. The "tutorial" video is so amateurishly bad it's completely useless.

In summary: Metro is half baked. The desktop is good. Without the artificial break between Metro and Desktop the OS would be better. Lots of little improvements to the desktop UI and systems add up to a nicer experience than 7. 40 bucks for Pro is stupid cheap. It takes just a few hours of use to get used to the differences.

I've used Windows 8 on a slate tablet (ep121) since the consumer preview in January. I've used it on my work desktop since the RTM in September. I installed it on my home machine yesterday onto a new SSD.

Windows 8 has grown on me overtime in what I think it can do and where I want to use it. When the iPad originally came out, the concept of having the phone OS on a large screen seemed ridiculous but over time the simplicity of the apps designed on it made a lot of sense for casual use. The new interface (metro, modern, new windows, whatever MS calls it next) - is bringing that same sort of casual computer experience to desktops as well as tablet and laptop formats. Yes, there are flaws - things that make you think this or that could be better, but as a whole it bring a new experience that really works once you give it a shot.

Along with my install of Windows 8 on my desktop I purchased a t650 trackpad made by Logitech. From using it at work, I know that most things work fine with a mouse and keyboard in Metro but I thought it could be better. With the trackpad, it really does do nearly everything just right. Zoom In/Zoom Out, bring up the start menu, go back to desktop, edge swipes for charms and returning to the last app - it's all there and fluid. Just a suggestion for anyone who wants to get that full Win 8 Metro feel without going all touchscreen. I couldn't use the Metro IE on a Desktop with a mouse, but it goes great with the t650 trackpad and it's now my preferred browser (replacing desktop Chrome).

My suggestion to anyone is give it a shot, the OS even on a desktop and with the new types of apps can indeed surprise you. At the start, it becomes a better place to launch desktop apps. Later, you start to have a few things with live tiles and easy apps that replace small things (like having much better Widgets). In the end, you may find yourself staying with the new apps and only using the desktop when you have to.

My biggest gripe/hope for a future update: To allow metro apps to stay open on multiple monitors instead of only one at a time.

I've used Server 2012 for a while at work, and it's actually pretty good. I hit the Windows key on bootup to get the "real" desktop (which has taskbars on both my screens, woot.) There's no Start button, but hit the Windows key again (faster than clicking a button) and you're back to the metro screen, which works pretty much like a (better) start menu. I keep a list of Win-Key shortcuts on my corkboard.

Admittedly, I've never (AFAIK) even seen a Metro app, and they don't sound appetizing (I loathe full screen apps on Apple's Lobotomized Civet, as well as nearly everything else about it. I don't care for iPhones either.) Like most software developers I run with UAC off which disables the Store anyway. I'll get around to trying it sooner or later, sooner if there is anything I ever need there.

Apple's Lion added exactly one desirable feature, finally catching up with MS's resize-window-from-any-side; I haven't found anything that killer on Win8 yet, but supposedly it's a bit faster and more stable and it's certainly cheap. Why not?

then there's file history. which is why I am recommending friends & family to upgrade, so they don't have to worry about backups.

EDIT: as other commentators have pointed out, for a good backup system, an automatic online backup is useful too. however, File History/Time Machine have their place too.

The only thing with cloud backups these days is that if you're backing up large files you'll quickly hit your data cap, depending on backup intervals.

Anyway, with regards to Windows 8, I'm going to let the crowds rant and rave about stuff they hate/love and wait for Microsoft to release updates that improves/tweaks Win8, and once it's been more or less accepted in the community I'll probably pick it up. I'm very happy on Windows 7 right now.

Regarding the Metro shell:Great for tablets form factors. Terrible for desktops and such traditional form factors.

Kernel: Awesome.

How is the Kernel awesome? It's the same long running registry bs for years and they do nothing about it. Give me an OS where I install a program and later uninstall it and left EXACTLY as it was before any installation happened. where it doesn't collect garbage over time. Where I don't need to acquire crappy 'registry' cleaners to do half the job claimed.

Got Windows 8 since the first public preview and until the RTM version was released I was waiting for a way to disable all the Metro UI Start menu etc. Unfortunately none came so I uninstalled it and I am waiting for Windows 9.

Unfortunately unless you are interested on any of the touch functionality provided by the new OS it has nothing to offer to the desktop and you will continuously find the switching back and forth to the start screen totally distracting and annoying.

The new kernel improvements are really great but not important enough to compromise on the desktop experience, so for me Windows 7 is still the king of OSes.

Windows 8 is a tablet oriented operating system optimized for content consumption and it has no value/place on my desktops and laptops. Maybe on my tablet, but then again I had it with the sea of rectangles and Microsoft’s attitude in try to force feed us this UI marriage from hell.

It is not about learning something new or getting used to it, it has nothing serious to offer to your desktop and downgrades your desktop experience.

"To install Windows 8 Pro update, customers must be running Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. If you would like to upgrade from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro, click here."

I don't want to upgrade from an earlier version or from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro. I want a fresh install in a virtual machine. Any idea how can I do that (assuming an OS X or Linux host)?

I purchased a Win8 Pro upgrade from the Microsoft Store to upgrade a Win7 VM. I couldn't get the upgrade to work (it would get all the way to the end and then fail with some driver error). However, at the beginning of the process I had the installer create an ISO, and I was able to use that to do a fresh install in a new VM. Not sure what the licensing implications are, but I didn't have any activation issues and everything works fine in the new install.

I've been reading the articles and the comments over the past few days. Finally decided to take the plunge with my academic licence. Just installed it the day before, was using it all day yesterday. Here are my thoughts:

Windows 8 rocks on the MBP 2010. I always used the Start Menu as a command launcher in W7 and OSX (Spotlight), and the functionality is identical. Hit the Window key, type a few letters for your App, hit enter. The Start Screen doesn't change that.

Pros:

- Built-in ISO mounting support (!). No need to install Virtual CloneDrive, DaemonTools. What a bonus- It's FAST.- Love the info in the new Task Manager and Copy dialogs.- Sleep finally works, and at Snow Leopard levels (default install on this machine). 24 hour sleep 100% --> 96%. Wakes from sleep super quickly (within 3 seconds).- Adding apps, icons and shortcuts to the Start Screen is one right-click. It gets the name and the icon right, unlike W7, which adds "Shortcut to..", a throwback to the 95 days.

The most jarring thing is the Start Screen on login from a fresh boot. The fix? Start typing "Desktop." It's an app. After the first three letters, it's the only hit, so hit Enter. And that's it. It takes three reboots to get used to. THAT'S IT, folks.

But that's only the case from a fresh boot. While waking from sleep, if you sleep from the desktop, you get to return to the desktop. I don't see any of the downsides or the scare mongering, and my workflow was not changed in any way. The Start Screen is basically an integration of Mission Control and LaunchPad, and it functions well that way.

The only annoying thing, as PeterB mentioned in his detailed review, is the default media applications, that launch in Metro. You can change that by right-clicking on the media, choose "Open With.." > "Choose default program." That also only needs to be done once, per media type. Of course, if you install a new app (Media Player Classic), it can also change the associations.

Upgrade of my Thinkpad T420s was painless. This is the first time I upgraded a machine instead of formating and installing since forever (my first computer had DOS). It took 25 minutes to upgrade.

I am a web developer and everything was intact and working - everything.

The new start screen, although mainly created for touch and tablets, are informative and pleasant to use. One click after login and I am in desktop - and I can already see that I won't be using the Metro interface and it won't be getting in my way. I can see that if I, for instance, had a convertible, the new start screen would be a great addition. So, those who complain about are winnie bitches.

Unfortunately unless you are interested on any of the touch functionality provided by the new OS it has nothing to offer to the desktop and you will continuously find the switching back and forth to the start screen totally distracting and annoying.

That's not true. What exactly do you do that needs so much of the start screen?

I have my PC to play games, see movies and hear songs. Win 8 in my opinion doesn't offer anything that can make my experience better. In addition, I've to throw out my well-known Start button. I have no interest about the new apps on the new screen. I don't see why bother; next time.

Generally, I'm a guy who keeps all of his program up-to-date. So far only μTorrent Ι stopped updating ( at version 2.2.1 ) and now, Win 7.

Just installed in my late 2009 iMac last night, so these are just first impressions....

Liked:

* Sleek interface of not-call-it-Metro-anymore (NCIMA), btw pedalling back from the Metro naming was a marketing mistake, nobody agrees, not even MS, in how to name it

* The coherence of some the NCIMA apps, when they work, they look quite stylish (such as Nytimes)

*The UI paradigm of accessing the corners, I know this divides a lot the opinion, but I found myself adapting quickly

*Fast boot, as pointed out my many people, this is indeed very pleasant

* The new file manager is quite good

Not-liked at all:* The incoherence of some the NCIMA apps, oh wait, is IE supposed to be or not a NCIMA app? because I found kind of absurd that when I click on IE icon in the Start screen, then it switches back to Desktop-type app and breaks totally the UI flow... WTH..... Even more disturbing, after installing the Google App, that one works beautifully in the new UI paradigm, so I found myself perplexed that Google did it better.... maybe something in my installation, I upgraded from Win 7

* Going go and back to the Desktop is irritating... you do not know which application will take you there and I haven't found a direct way to invoke the desktop, so I'm forced to use another application to make it appear, a total nightmare, is there a key or more direct action that makes appear the Desktop?

*Incompatible with MS software. This was a good one, no Security Essentials and the upgrade wizard said that Visual Studio 2010 Pro is incompatible (haven't tried yet). No idea if Security Essentials will be upgraded to be Win 8 compatible...kind of weird where security is a permanent mantra for MS

* And of course... this could not be a MS OS without BSODs... oh wait... no, I do not have right to that.. I just get once in a while a totally frozen system.. only solution is to turn off the system, this has happend 3 times since last night... it has been years since I got one of these, kudos to MS to bring me back Win 95 memories...

Installed it yesterday on a 2012 MacBook Pro (Bootcamp style) after running the preview for a few months.

Sorry, but as a power user the Metro interface has always driven me batty, so immediately after firing up Win8 for the first time, I installed Stardock's Start8 app, which disables the bottom-left hot corner and puts in a legacy Start Menu, which you can configure to behave like the Start Buttons of old. Well worth the $5 cost of the app.

However, another very annoying issue I'm having right now, is that there are already Windows Updates. But that's not the annoying part. Every time I try and install the 4 updates, it restarts, and the updating percentage gets to 100% then it suddenly says "Failed, reverting changes." Then it has to do its thing and restart twice in order to get back to the way it was. I tried "repairing Windows update" and downloading the updates again, but it still fails and have to go through the whole reverting process over again. This is a clean install so I know there can't possibly be any other software conflicts. I've looked up the "800F0922" error code but that error dates back before the official release of Win8 and there aren't any solutions for my situation. *sigh*

Other than that, it really is speedy. This will be a dev environment running Visual Studio 2012 so I'm looking forward to using it, if I can get past these hiccups first.

Shut down your PC. I suspect you'll see a preliminary screen telling you the updates are installing.

The new start screen is definitely easier to navigate with a touch device (obviously), and it's a little frustrating when using a mouse. I love the start screen though, and honestly, if my desktop monitor had a touchscreen, I could see my keyboard getting a lot less use.

Windows 8 takes some getting used to, but it has enough improvements to entice me to cross over, especially with the $40 upgrade offer that is valid for the next few months. Contrary to what some may think, IMO Microsoft has put a lot thoughts into the design of this OS. I like change; I think I will like W8.

Unfortunately unless you are interested on any of the touch functionality provided by the new OS it has nothing to offer to the desktop and you will continuously find the switching back and forth to the start screen totally distracting and annoying.

That's not true. What exactly do you do that needs so much of the start screen?

The problem is that I do not need the new start menu or any other application getting into full screen mode without me “saying” so.

I do not want my 30” monitor to switch to a maze of rectangles every time I want to choose a program, it is tiring and distracting.

In general I find no use for all the Metro hoopla and no way to switch it off it is rather annoying. I don’t believe for a minute that the “new” UI is the way to the future for anybody who is working with their PC so there is no point having to deal with it for no reason.

Just installed in my late 2009 iMac last night, so these are just first impressions....

*Incompatible with MS software. This was a good one, no Security Essentials and the upgrade wizard said that Visual Studio 2010 Pro is incompatible (haven't tried yet). No idea if Security Essentials will be upgraded to be Win 8 compatible...kind of weird where security is a permanent mantra for MS

Windows 8 Defender is integrated into the OS and takes over from Security Essentials (hence why it is no longer needed.)

As long as I'm using mouse and keyboard I won't upgrade to something that isn't primarily intended for it, the under the hood improvements seem nice but it isn't enough to consider switching at this time. The improvements won't really be noticable for an average desktop computer anyway.

Guess the biggest issue is the jumping between desktop and not-to-be-called-Metro applications though, it really prevents you from getting used to the OS as a whole (honestly I was finding it increasingly irritating instead)

Bought at the $39.99 rate at 12:05am on release day and installed on my Vista-running laptop (3-4 years old at this point) shortly thereafter from a USB key... did a clean install, so no cruft to deal with. I had played with it for probably a total of 15-20 hours during previews so I knew what I was getting into generally.

Overall opinion: I LOATHE Metro (and I refuse to call it whatever stupid name it has now, it's Metro and if MS legal couldn't be bothered to secure the name then I can't be bothered to stop calling it that)... I HATE the way those "modern UI" apps look, they're just ugly as sin to me... this thing is CLEARLY geared towards touch (and that was confirmed today in Costco when I had a chance to play with a touchscreen laptop with Win8 and it's definitely a better experience with touch)... I HATE that they removed the Start menu and I HATE the flat look of desktop.

For $40 I don't feel bad at all for having upgraded (and since I left Vista on another partition, which, surprisingly, has always worked very well for me on this laptop, it was risk-free)... the thing definitely does perform very well, that's one area MS deserves credit with this release. There's also some decent enough additions here and there that you notice over time.

So long as I can stay out of Metro it works well enough for me, and to that end I bought Start8 and it's made me a VERY happy man! If I could only get Aero Glass back (properly, not the BS hacks you can find on Youtube now) I think I'd go ahead and upgrade all the machines in my house, even the Windows 7 ones that have been flawless for a couple of years now.

But, every time something Metro-related pops up I just cringe and reach for a spoon to scoop my eyeballs out with. It may be okay on a tablet but it SUCKS on a non-touch desktop... and even on a tablet I'll never see it as anything but an ugly Fisher Price ripoff... I just can't STAND the Metro aesthetic AT ALL... the interactions aren't terrible, but most people like their cars to look good AND perform well, same goes for a GRAPHICAL operating system in my mind... if I didn't care about looks at all I'd just dump to a command line and live there.

Just set it up as a VM using my work's MS license. I also did this with a previous beta build, so I had experience.

In a nutshell, I had to adapt myself to it. It seems like there's a disparate lack of unity as others have noticed, too much horizontal scrolling, and the "hold mouse on right lower corner and wait" is about as intuitive as telling someone to wait for a bus by show up at a corner where there's no bus stop and hope they trust you. Then remove you telling them to wait and where.

I am glad I found the "Desktop" right away by installing Firefox, which Ars reviewed a while ago as inelegant and clunky in a beta. I suppose that's sort of fixed, but I found myself going right back to the desktop because the Start Screen was so fugly. Like Windows 1.0 color scheme fugly. I also found out that the control panel on the right lets me use "cmd" by just typing it in. You can find other applications like this as well, which... fine. My windows Start Menu was so cluttered, I started using that feature when Windows 7 came out. Eventually, I found out what I needed to do in order to do basic stuff. I haven't figured out how to enable 3-D effects yet.

The one thing I am gathering is this is NOT for power users. Kind of like a Fisher-Price/Playskool version of Windows. For serious sysadmins like me, there's going to have to be a lot of tweaking once this becomes forced on me in the next few years.

I've been using Windows 8 on a regular basis since RTM in August. There was a brief period of adjustment getting used to the start screen, and now I can honestly state that productivity and workflow is faster with 8 than with 7. And it even gets better with a tablet. My Surface arrived yesterday and I am blown away at how much better the Windows 8 interface works on a tablet form factor. My iPad is now officially retired to running HBO Go until the Windows RT version is released!